Energy, investment companies to explore gigawatt-scale green hydrogen hub on Gulf Coast

A group of energy and investment companies signed an agreement with the Port of Corpus Christi Authority Feb. 22 to explore opportunities to develop a gigawatt-scale green hydrogen hub that would produce green fuels "in volumes not yet seen in the United States."

The Corpus Christi port authority signed a memorandum of understanding with Apex Clean Energy, Ares Management Corporation and EPIC Midstream Holdings to "explore the development of a leading green hydrogen production, storage, transportation, and export operation," the group said in a statement.

The project would also include a new dedicated hydrogen pipeline and a green fuels hub.

The Corpus Christi port along the Texas Gulf Coast is the nation's top hub for crude oil exports, comprising about 60% of market share with more export capacity still available.

Apex Clean Energy said it would power green hydrogen production facilities using its portfolio of Texas wind and solar projects currently in development. Last year, Apex announced that it was purchasing 345 MW of wind energy to power a green hydrogen production facility being developed in partnership with Plug Power. The facility is expected to produce 30 mt/day of clean liquid hydrogen.

EPIC Midstream said it would leverage its pipeline construction and operating expertise to accelerate the development of a new pipeline dedicated to green fuels, and the Port Authority would offer new and existing storage, processing and export infrastructure located on its property.

"This project seeks to generate and deliver green hydrogen and other clean fuels precisely where they are needed most — at the industrial backbone of our nation," Apex Clean Energy President and CEO Mark Goodwin said in the statement. The partnership "would leverage the highest-quality wind and solar resources in Texas to help decarbonize difficult-to-abate industries — including the transportation, shipping, fertilizer, chemical, and refining sectors — and include optionality for global export."

In addition to hydrogen, the project would produce derivative green fuels such as green ammonia, green methanol and sustainable aviation fuels. Although the companies claim that the project would produce green fuels at gigawatt-scale, Apex declined to provide specifics on expected volume.

Other large-scale green hydrogen projects in the US are still in development phases. Plug Power's $290 million hydrogen production facility in New York, for instance, aims to have 120 MW of electrolyzer capacity that will supply 500 mt/day of hydrogen by 2025. And DG Fuels' $2.5 billion sustainable aviation fuel production facility in Louisiana, which will have an electrolyzer capacity of 839 MW, is expected to be completed in mid-2022.

It's hard to tell how this potential Corpus Christi project could impact clean hydrogen prices in the future, said hydrogen analyst Brian Murphy of S&P Global Platts Analytics. According to S&P Global Platts price assessments, the price of hydrogen produced using electrolysis in the Gulf Coast cost $3.17/kg (including capex) as of Feb. 21.

"It's hard to speculate on how the market for low-carbon H2 might evolve – it doesn't specifically exist right now," Murphy said. "Also, the mix of derivative fuels could complicate the picture."